The Guinness Men’s Six Nations has dominated the rugby sphere for the past three weeks, but with the Championship taking a breather it gives us the chance to take a look around and see what is happening in the rugby world.
The Guinness Men’s Six Nations has dominated the rugby sphere for the past three weeks, but with the Championship taking a breather it gives us the chance to take a look around and see what is happening in the rugby world.
There’s Super Rugby Pacific making a memorable start to the season, the Rugby Europe Championship coming to the boil, the on going Top 14 slog, and the PREM Rugby Cup showing off England’s stars of the future.
Yes, the big show may be on hold this weekend but there is still plenty to feed your rugby cravings.
Here’s ATR’s one stop shop to bring you up to date….
Aussies Flying And Crumbling Crusaders
Brumbies and Waratahs might be forgiven for giving a double take when viewing the Super Rugby Pacific table, for is the sides from Canberra and Sydney who occupy the top two places after the opening two rounds.
They both enjoyed bonus point wins, the Brumbies over Western Force and the Crusaders, while the Waratahs knocked over Queensland Reds and Fijian Drua. Brumbies fans have become used to their team being the only side capable of challenge the Kiwi teams’ dominance, but it has been a long time since the Waratahs challenged, probably since 2014 and their lone Super Rugby title.
The Brumbies win over Crusaders is doubly impressive as it came on the road in Christchurch and is the reigning champions second defeat of the season, with a single point keeping them above the Reds, Drua, and Force.
It is early days, but could we be witnessing a changing of the Super Rugby guard. Round 3 is coming up, and ATR’s Dan Gardner looks ahead to all the action.
Top 14 – No Let Up
The phrase marathon, not a sprint could have been conceived for the Top 14 season. It begins in the fading days of a European summer, and concludes the following June, just as the summer is starting to cook.
With the shortened Six Nations this season, it presented the need to squeeze a round of fixtures on the same weekend that France made it two wins from two, by defeating Wales. Last year’s finalists Toulouse and Bordeaux-Begles both won, Montpellier inflicted more pressure on Ronan O’Gara by beating La Rochelle on the road, while Clermont Auvergne got over their travel sickness by beating Toulon.
Toulouse are now 11 points clear of Pau, with Bordeaux-Begles a further point behind and another round coming up this weekend.
Meanwhile, Gregory Patat has been axed as Bayonne boss, Toulon’s head coach Pierre Mignoni has asked for a week off, and Olympic champion Andy Timo has joined La Rochelle for the rest of the season.
The Top 14 is rugby’s best soap opera, and ATR’s Rosbif Rugby have already picked their best team from the first half of the season.
Georgia and Portugal Eye Final Date
Of course, the Six Nations isn’t the only international tournament taking place right now. There is of course the small matter of the Rugby Europe Championship that is now at the semifinal stage.
Georgia and Portugal topped their pools of four after three matches, and they will now face Romania and Portugal in the semifinals. There was a big shock in the final round when Switzerland beat the Netherlands for the first time. The Swiss will now take on Germany, while the Netherlands will go head to head with neighbours Belgium.
The final matches will take place in Madrid on 15 March. ATR’s Carl Dawson will bring us all the news from the Spanish capital, and while we love a surprise we can see Georgia and Portugal meeting in the final.
England’s Hidden Future – The PREM Cup
ATR will admit it struggled to find out about the PREM Cup, but here’s the update. The two pools of five have one more round of matches before the semifinals, and Exeter Chiefs and Leicester Tigers are already through.
In Pool A Gloucester hold a three-point lead over their local rivals Bath, and the pair have a straight shootout at The Rec on Saturday to decide who progresses. In Pool B Northampton Saints need only a point to book their place, and they have home advantage against Saracens, who will need to take all five points and deny the hosts a bonus point if they are to progress instead.
Last season, Bath ended their wait for a trophy that stretched back to 1998 by winning the PREM Cup, and then went on to add the PREM Rugby title, and EPCR Challenge Cup. What odds on them repeating that trick this season?
Rassie Makes The Call
Far be it for ATR to try and work out how Rassie Erasmus’ mind works, but it was an eclectic mix of players that he called up for his first alignment camp of 2026. It is notable that the 49 players called up are domestically-based, with 21 overseas players due to meet remotely.
Those called up included long-time captain Siya Kolisi, and the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche, Wilco Louw, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handre Pollard, Canan Moodie, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, and Damian Willemse.
There is also a return for 34-year-old tighthead prop Frans Malherbe, after a year blighted by injury, and 11 uncapped players.
Of course, inclusion is no indicator of future test selection, nor is non-selection a sign that you’re not in Erasmus’ thoughts. Still it is sign of how he wants to shape his squad with fewer windows available before the 2027 World Cup, something ATR’s Avuyile Sawula looks at in greater depth.